Page 85 of Begin Again

“The poison,” I say abruptly. “What did she use? How did she do it?”

Bennett turns toward me, considering. “The reports said cyanide.”

Morgan frowns. “Cyanide isn’t easy to come by. It’s highly controlled. Unless she’s making it herself, she has to have a source.”

“It can be found in certain plants,” Theo says. “Or in pesticides. She’d want a toxin so precise it’s undetectable until it’s too late.”

“Gabriel was at work before he went home sick,” Mo murmurs. “We need to check the CCTV footage. See if Aubrey was there that day.”

A chill creeps down my spine. “If she was, did she bring him anything? A coffee? Food?”

“His water tumbler,” Theo says suddenly. “He carried that damn thing everywhere. That’s got to be the key.”

Morgan’s eyes widen. “I’ll pull the footage.”

The pieces are clicking together, but we’re still missing the full picture.

Aubrey’s gotten away with murder for long enough.

Not this time.

***

The afternoon air is crisp as we step out of Morgan’s house, the weight of our plan pressing down on us. It feels like we’ve spent hours peeling back the layers of Aubrey’s crimes, and now, with the full picture in front of us, it’s suffocating. Like standing at the edge of a cliff, knowing the only way forward is down, but not being able to see the bottom.

Theo follows in his old truck, having asked for some time alone, as Orion, Celeste, and I head toward my place.

Orion, apparently, has decided that the best way to cope with that is to drive like we’re in a high-speed chase. I grip the door handle as he takes a turn way too fast, my stomach lurching. If we don’t die at the hands of a murderer, it’s going to be because of my brother’s complete disregard for speed limits.

In the backseat, Celeste and I are still reeling from the mess we’ve stepped into. She exhales sharply, leaning her head back against the seat. “We’re in way over our heads, aren’t we?”

I let out a dry laugh. “Oh, absolutely. But at least we have each other.”

She tilts her head toward me, a small smirk playing on her lips. “Think we could just run away? Start fresh somewhere new? Change our names, open a bookstore, and never look back?”

“Tempting,” I admit. “But we’d probably still find trouble. You’d get bored in a week and drag me into some elaborate scheme.”

Celeste gasps, clutching her chest like I’ve wounded her. “Me? Bored? I havelayers, Selene. Depth. Mystery.”

“You also have the attention span of a squirrel on caffeine.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “Details.” Then she perks up, eyes glinting with mischief. “What if we were con artists? Like, really glamorous ones. With wigs and accents and designer trench coats.”

I stare at her. “What part of ‘lay low’ sounds like ‘commit felonies’ to you?”

She grins. “I can’t help it. I’d make afabulousfemme fatale.”

Orion groans from the front. “If you two don’t shut up, Iwillleave you on the side of the road.”

Celeste leans in conspiratorially. “We could totally disappear if we wanted to.”

I just shake my head, but I can’t help smiling. Because no matter how deep this nightmare goes, at least I’m not in it alone.

Even with Orion driving like a bat out of hell, Theo arrives about the same time we do. He pulls in behind us just as I’m stepping out of Orion’s car, and Valkyrie—deciding she’s been deprived of his attention forfartoo long—immediately makes it her mission to rectify that.

“Jesus—” Theo stumbles back, catching himself against the wall as she jumps up, her massive paws landing on his chest.

I snort. “She missed you.”

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